Reminiscence
by bluebuff
Summary: The hunt for the Horcruxes has taken its toll on the Boy Who Lived. During the last stages of the Second War, Harry Potter waits, and remembers. Fluff fans beware! Do I get more sympathy from reviewers if i write : My first story! R
1. The Hunt Begins

A/N: Yes, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, so please leave some reviews if you see this. Any kind of review is welcome (except for completely insane comments) and prepare to be amazed at my lack of literary skill, thank you. Oh and to make matters worse, I don't have a beta or anyone to proofread my stories (not that anyone would want to), so any errors are not because I suck at the English language.

If I was J.K, do you think I would be here writing really bad quality stories? Was that a rhetorical question? Well, that one was. Sigh… ok, here's the fine print.

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, everything except the plot is J.K. Rowling's and I bow down before her._

Actually, I'm not even sure that the plot is completely mine. Now, without further ado:

Oh, wait; I need to give out a few warnings before we start.

**Warnings:** Those of you fluff addicts out there, this story is not recommended for you. There are also spoilers from HBP (but hey, who hasn't read it?)

Reminiscence 

A lone, dark figure stood at the edge of the Astronomy Tower, lost in thought. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his black, tousled hair. For the briefest of moments, a lightning-shaped scar was revealed on his forehead. Hollow emerald eyes peered out under his glasses towards the Forbidden Forest, a dark and ominous presence. Night had finally set in, and sparks of spellfire were illuminating the grounds.

Harry Potter, now at the age of 21, was done running. He had been running ever since that fateful night on the very tower he was standing on now. Harry survived the two years he spent hunting for horcruxes due to a certain brown haired witch's ingenuity, the loyalty of a red headed best friend and his escaping skills, and this was the end of the line. It had to end here, it had cost him too much… far too much.

The empty eyes of the dead haunted his thoughts.

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The hunt for the pieces of Voldemort's soul had started after he had seen Bill and Fleur get married.

Harry had left Privet Drive on August 1st just as he had planned. His guard came to escort him along with Ron and Hermione and Harry couldn't help but feel the happiness of being liberated from the Dursleys for the last time. Well, the bone-crushing hug he had received from Hermione was enough to lighten his mood, but nevertheless, there were no goodbyes exchanged. The feeling of relief was evidentially mutual. The group then arrived at the Burrow, only to be swept up in the preparations for the eldest Weasley's wedding.

Harry soon put aside his troubles and helped out as best as he could. Each newly placed decoration was an escape of sorts. They helped him to temporarily forget about everything plaguing his life. Horcruxes, Voldemort, the war, prophecies, and the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Ginny Weasley was another matter entirely. At first the two just exchanged pleasantries and talked about random things such as the weather, pygmy puffs, and that she wanted to follow Harry on his quest. Harry had hoped she wouldn't bring up that up so soon, but he stood by his earlier decision. He stood impassively as Ginny asked, entreated, begged, and even threatened him. In the end, everything went to hell.

Harry had hoped that Ginny wouldn't let her temper get the better of her. Too bad hopes aren't always fulfilled.

He limped away from that engagement with an injured arm, damaged pride, and a lot of angry bats.

The ceremony started a little awkwardly, but there were no more hitches. The wedding itself brought a form of comfort to Harry. Seeing Bill and Fleur look like the happiest people alive automatically put a smile on his face. A small part of his mind was wishing that he could do this someday, but he shook it off. He had work to do. As soon as the ceremony ended, he had tried to sneak out by himself, only to be stopped by Ron and Hermione, who were waiting for him at the gate.

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" asked Hermione.

"Really mate, did you think you could just slip away without us knowing?" added Ron.

Harry knew that they would be waiting for him; his best friends would never let him leave alone. He resigned himself to the fact that they would be with him during his search. But a part of him was glad that they would be there with him. He could never have asked for better friends than them. They would always be by his side, whether he liked it or not

Smiling, he said, "Well come on then, we haven't got all day."

The hunting had begun.

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A cold wind brought Harry back to his senses. That day seemed so long ago. He wished that one day, he would be able to experience something like that himself. He shook his head. _This is no time for wishful thinking Potter._ And besides, without _her_, he would never feel that kind of happiness. _Never_.

So Harry Potter stood, and began to prepare himself.

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A/N: This turned out shorter than I expected, probably due to my eagerness to get that first chapter up, I guess. For those of you who care, yes, the chapters will get longer as I get to the more interesting parts of this story. But bear with me for a while, and you will be rewarded.

In case you didn't notice, this chapter has been reviewed, rewritten, and revamped. But I'm not entirely happy with the revised edition either, so don't be surprised if a version 3 of chapter one comes up later.


	2. The Hunt Continues

A/N: My first second chapter -maniacal laughter- though it might be "slightly" boring. You have been warned.

**Disclaimer: **No, the plot is now officially mine (and the bad writing), everything else is still J.K.'s though.

Reminiscence 

They had found Slytherin's locket. They just couldn't figure out how to get rid of it.

Hermione suggested that they find a base of operations to work out of. After much debate, Grimmauld Place was decided as the ideal hideout. Although Harry was reluctant to go back to that mausoleum, he had been granted ownership of the house, so it would be a perfect place for them to start planning and researching. Well, only Hermione was excited at the prospect of poring over books. Ron only groaned and started complaining, and though Harry didn't show it, he wasn't that thrilled either.

But what did excite them was the discovery of the third Horcrux. Kreacher's mysterious disappearance made the house, if it was possible, even more repulsing. Ornaments were scattered about the room, anything made of fabric was torn to shreds, and dust had settled across the entire house. Hermione, who was repulsed by this, took it upon herself to re-clean the house. Of course, she managed to badger Harry and Ron to help.

After about the third day of reluctant cleaning, Harry found it. _It_ had been in Kreacher's secret stash of the Black family heirlooms. Immediately, he let out a shout of triumph and took it up to the library where the others were getting rid of a new doxie infestation.

And now, the three of them were sitting in various places around the library. Ron was sprawled over a long reclining chair, Hermione had snuggled into a very comfortable looking reading chair, and Harry was pacing in front of the door. The locket was placed on a table in the center of the circle they had created.

The three of them had been trying to destroy it for the last four hours. Ron's overzealous Reductor curse had created a miniature shockwave that nearly annihilated the entire room. Not to mention the fact that all of them had been thrown back and Ron's eyebrows were almost completely singed off. After that little episode, Hermione was looking up a method, a _safe_ one, to get rid of the Horc-

-------------------- (cant figure out how to put stars here)

A huge explosion ripped through the Quidditch pitch, startling Harry, he hadn't expected the attackers to spread out so soon. Aftershocks still spread around the pitch. _The timed Blasting Jinxes should distract them a little._ Thought Harry. He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. His thoughts turned back to the locket. _We managed to get it at the end. Thanks mainly to Hermione. If she hadn't figured out how to get past those defensive spells, we'd still be on square one._ _In the end, we did manage to get rid of it. Actually, now that I think about it, the locket was the easiest Horcrux to get rid of._ _It was much harder in…_

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'India?' Ron asked incredulously. 'What did You-Know-Who do in India?'

Hermione sighed and explained for the third time. 'For goodness sake, Ron, it was where Voldemort perfected his transfiguration into a snake! Dumbledore's journal says so!'

'Still, I think the bloke's off his rocker, going all the way to India to get himself turned into a snake.'

'Honestly Ron, if you had been _listening _at all, it would make perfect sense!'

The argument went on, and on. Harry tried to stay out of it, grunting whenever either one of them asked his opinion. He was getting pretty sick of Ron and Hermione's constant bickering. This was already the seventh time the two of them were at it, and Harry was getting tired of it. The two of them seemed to have some sort of awkward relationship going on, but Harry couldn't figure out what was happening, it was just too complicated. At first, Harry had been delighted to hear that his two best friends were together, _But now I'm not sure if it was such a good idea._

The door slammed, bringing Harry out of his reverie. Hermione had stormed out of the room. Apparently incensed at Ron.

Harry looked at Ron, who looked slightly subdued. He looked up, saw Harry looking at him and said, 'So, why exactly are we going to India?'

Harry rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling and exasperated smile. 'Ron, if you'd been listening, you would've figured it out.

Ron gave him a look of mock horror and remarked, 'Harry, I can't believe it, you're turning in-into Hermione!'

They both burst into laughter. _Sometimes, you forget that it's great to have Ron with you, even if he's being a pain from time to time. _His thoughts were again interrupted when Hermione came in.

'Well, come on! We haven't got all day you two, let's get moving!'

Harry, with an innocent look on his face, asked, 'Let's get moving where?'

She broke into the same exasperated smile he had given to Ron, breaking any tension there was left, and replied, 'You two are hopeless.'

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India was the complete opposite of England. It was sunny all the time, no clouds, no shade, just the beating sun. And the humidity! They felt like lobsters getting steamed. It was so stuffy everyone would've fainted without the refreshing coldness of cooling charms. Then, when the sun finally decided to take a break, it would start raining. Hard.

It was during one of these freak monsoons where the trio was making their way up a mountain in the province of Himanchal Pradesh (A/N: yes it's a real province). They were all drenched to the bone and exhausted after eight hours of continuous climbing.

'Bloody hell, why couldn't we just apparate to this stupid place again?' asked Ron.

No one answered.

Ron just continued grumbling to himself about 'bloody anti-apparation wards.'

The three of them reached the spot Hermione had said Voldemort's fourth Horcrux would be. It had taken them 4 weeks to get to this spot. Apparating out of England to Poland, where they had made multiple jumps in order to throw off anyone attempting to follow them. Once they had made it to India, the trio made a beeline to the location of the Horcrux, only to find that there was an anti-apparation ward over it. So, with no alternative left, they started to hike. During that time, Harry had watched amusedly as Ron and Hermione attempted a romance of sorts. In the end, after a long talk, (and much head banging) they both agreed that it would be best to not get involved in, as Ron put it, 'that kind of way.' _Thank Merlin they reached that conclusion before they hexed each other to oblivion, _Harry thought. It was true, without a cumbersome relationship to get in their way, Ron and Hermione were capable of having conversations longer than 10 minutes without getting into an argument. However, there was only one problem.

'Um… Hermione? Where exactly was this Horcrux supposed to be? Harry asked.

They were looking at a large clearing of land, but nothing suggested that there was an object harboring the soul of a dark, twisted soul. Not getting an answer, Harry turned to see that his best female friend was in the middle of casting a complicated spell. Ron was looking at her as if she had lost her mind, but to Harry, she looked beautiful. Her eyes were screwed shut, concentration etched on her features. She was biting her lip, which was something she did whenever she performed a non-verbal spell. In fact, she looked… _Wait, beautiful? Hold up Potter, this is your best friend you're talking about here. You'll have to figure this out later. In the meantime, get those thoughts out of your head!_

Hermione opened her eyes. 'I think that should do it.'

Ron and Harry turned around to see a dais of sorts, holding up what was obviously, a Cup. 'Hufflepuff's Cup! Great job Hermione!' Ron exclaimed. Harry was awestruck. 'Hermione, that was amazing, but what did you do?'

'Well,' she started, blushing slightly at their praise, 'I just used a revealing spell to negate the invisibility charm, then I disenchanted the Repulsion wards.'

'Bloody brilliant.' Ron said. He added hesitantly, 'Is it safe to get close?'

'Yes Ron, its quite safe now' she said matter-of-factly.

Ron started to advance towards the Cup until Harry interjected. 'No Ron, I'll go, this is something I have to do.' 'But,' Ron started to protest, but Harry cut him off. 'No offense Hermione, but we don't know if its really safe to touch, let alone get close to it. So I'll go first.' The other two, knowing that he wouldn't back down, nodded their consent. That didn't stop them from being worried, especially Hermione, who was biting her lip again.

Harry slowly started to walk towards the Horcrux. He was expecting Inferi to be rising from the ground, and gritted his teeth, forcing those images out of his head. He arrived at the Cup without anything horrible happening. Sighing in relief, he reached out to pick it up and-

Suddenly the ground _did_ start to open up. To Harry's relief, however, it wasn't the bodies of the undead, it was snakes. Harry immediately started to back away, as more snakes were being spewed out of the ground. At first, the hissing was completely unintelligible, but slowly, he was able to figure out what they were saying. _'…intrudersss…sssmell blood…kill…'_

'Uh Harry, I think we better get out of here, NOW.' Ron yelled. He spun around to see Ron and Hermione already moving, urging him on. Harry quickly followed suit.

'Yeah!' He yelled back hurriedly, 'I don't think we're welcome here!'

'Why? What are they saying?'

'You don't want to know!'

They hastily retreated down the mountain, but the snakes were fast. Harry could hear their eerie voices getting louder.

'They're catching up!'

'Thanks Harry, we really wouldn't have known.' came the sarcastic reply

'Ron! Harry! This is not the time!'

Harry turned around and cried, '_Igniculus_!' The Fire Tongue Spell created a line of flames between them and the mass of snakes. Needless to say, he was surprised when the snakes simply slithered though the fire unscathed.

'Harry! Just try talking to them!' suggested Hermione.

'No good, they're really mad now!' he replied. He could hear their hissing and the snakes were even more furious than before. Some of them sped up, intent on catching their quarry.

As they started running again, Harry decided to throw caution to the winds and used the most powerful spell he had at his disposal. '_Reducto Fortis Maxima_!' The second level Reductor curse snapped out of his wand and hit the snake nearest to him. The resulting blast lifted Harry off his feet and he was flung against a tree. Dazed, but still conscious, he was astonished to see that the snakes had stopped. Including the one he had hit, which was equally dazed, but alive.

Hermione ran up. 'Harry! Are you okay?' she asked, worry written all over her face.

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

Ron was in front of them, his wand trained on the snakes. 'What do you think they're waiting for?'

One of the snakes slithered forward. _'…we wisssh to talk to the one with the ssscar…'_

Harry unconsciously hissed back, 'what do you want?'

'…_thank you, you have freed usss from the curssse of the evil one…'_

'…umm…you're welcome?'

Hermione, fascinated by the exchange, was attempting to listen closely.

'…_the evil one came, many winters ago, and cursssed us into protecting his vile sssoul…only a powerful ssspell like the one you cast could have freed usss from the curssse…thank you young one…'_

The snakes slithered away, back to where the Horcrux was hidden.

'Uh, Harry, what just happened?' Ron asked, clearly confused.

'Honestly? I have no idea.'

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The Astronomy Tower was getting a bit chilly, but Harry didn't feel anything, insignificant things such as the temperature no longer affected him, but he cast a warming charm just in case. He didn't want his hands to get too stiff. All the while he waited and watched as the dueling figures entered the school.

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A/N: A happy new year to the 14 people who have read this chapter. Yes, I know, there are a lot of loose ends in this story, but they're all going to come together at the end. (I hope) And if the transitions from one time to the next are confusing, please let me know. Oh, and for those of you who actually read the story, thanks, and please leave a review! I'm begging you! Hello? Anyone out there? I know you're there. I can feel your scorn…


	3. The Hunt Ends

A/N: Looks like I'm halfway there now.

Um… a Happy New Year, to those of you reading! It's 2007 (wow, way to state the obvious) and hope everyone's as ecstatic as I am! Now, let the romance/comedy begin! (so I can shoot it down later)

**Disclaimer:** Yep, still J.K.'s, not mine.

Reminiscence

In the Eastern mountains of Albania, Voldemort had succeeded in one of his greatest accomplishments. He had harnessed the power of the Inferi. With no other option, the trio, camped out in a dingy cabin, followed his footsteps all across the Adriatic state. After a year of searching, they had finally reached a forest where the Staff of Ravenclaw was hidden. They had expected Inferi to be guarding the Horcrux, considering that was his achievement there. So naturally, they didn't expect to see a Heliopath materialize out of nowhere. The supposedly non-existent demon was a full 9 meters tall, made of flaming stone, and was in a mood for a barbeque.

'HARRY WATCH OUT!'

Harry ducked, narrowly avoiding a fireball, which managed to singe the hem of his robes. He quickly got up and retaliated with a Reductor curse, it was the only spell that would work on the Heliopath. He looked back and saw his shot had found its mark, but left no lasting effect.

It was a wearisome task, but by combining their spells, the Heliopath was slowly breaking apart. Harry was distracting the demon by running around like a headless chicken. Strange, but efficient. The Heliopath's attentions were solely focused on Harry alone. Only his Quidditch reflexes kept him from becoming a human steak.

Sensing that their adversary was finished, he yelled, 'Hermione! Ron! On me!'

They got up behind the rock they were taking cover behind, and cast a combined spell.

'_Reducto_!'

Three blue bolts sizzled out of their wands, and combined halfway between them and the Heliopath. It quickly turned into a large blue orb and smashed into the fire demon's chest.

'Quick! Shield Charms up!' Harry ordered. The three of them hastily erected a shield and took cover. Thankfully for them, the Heliopath simply imploded in on itself, emitting a bright red light before disappearing.

Ron let out a low whistle, 'Now _that_, was close.'

'Too close for comfort.' said Harry.

Hermione made her way back to where the Heliopath had met its demise. 'Oy, where are you going?' She bent down and picked up the Staff of Ravenclaw. While she was doing so, Harry had an enticing view of her delectable backsid- he gave himself a mental slap and turned his thoughts elsewhere. _Think about anything else you dolt, just NOT Hermione._

'…Harry? Harry!'

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Harry looked up. Ron and Hermione were staring at him and he snapped back into reality. Albania was three months ago. Now they were back in England for the first time in 30 months. In fact, they had been planning their next move at Grimmauld Place.

'Really, mate,' Ron said, looking at him quizzically. 'You've got to stop dropping out of conversations like that.'

Harry grimaced internally. 'Sorry guys,' he croaked out. All the while banishing images of Hermione's nose, hands, lips… _Oh, not the lips_… and any other body part, out of his mind. It had been going on for the last year. Ever since seeing Hermione break the wards guarding Hufflepuff's Cup, Harry had started noticing practically every admirable aspect of his best friend. It was frustrating him beyond belief.

_Stop it you dolt! She's your best friend! She'd freak out if you tried to start a relationship with her! Look what happened to Ron! _

_Yeah, but you're not Ron, are you? _Asked a traitorous part of his brain.

_That's not the point! She's- _

'HARRY!'

Hermione's shout brought him back to reality. _Again_. He thought to himself.

'Honestly, the way you keep phasing out, are you sure it isn't Voldemort? Is it the scar?'

'Um…er…no, its not him, I just keep…er…' Harry kept stammering and mentally, he kicked himself. _Way to go, now she's definitely not going to notice that something's wrong._

'Harry, if anything's wrong, just tell us, we're here for you.'

_If I told her what was really on my mind, she'd seriously freak out._

'Cmon, Harry,' Ron's voice chimed in, 'Let's get outta here, its freezing! How about a drink at the bar? It'll be on me.'

Hermione scowled, 'Ron, I don't think liquor is the best thing for Harry right now. He needs rest. I think yesterday's patrol with the Order was too much a strain on him.

_She's right Potter. You almost got fried by Death Eaters yesterday, and you're sitting here thinking about Hermione's- Oh, bloody hell, not again…_

Harry let out an audible groan without knowing it.

Gripping his wrist, Hermione dragged him off, admonishing him. 'What you need is a good rest.' She was saying. Harry was distracted by the movement of her legs. '…and some soup. Wait here while I get some.' And within five minutes, he was in bed and sipping his soup, which, he had to admit, tasted horrible. Of course, he wasn't going to say anything.

Harry was settling in and seriously considering sleep to ease his distracted mind when a knock came at the door. Expecting Hermione, he said absentmindedly, 'Come in.' But it wasn't the object of his current grief who came in.

'Harry, mate, you could _not_ have been any more obvious.' Ron said amusedly, a grin on his face. 'It would help if you stopped looking at her bum.' he added.

Harry Potter let out a strangled choke and spilled soup all over himself. Ron thumped his back sympathetically.

'You knew?' he asked, fearful that his best mate wouldn't be too pleased.

'Knew? How could I not know?' Ron laughed, 'I may be thick, but with your anvil sized hints, I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out.'

'You okay?'

Ron was confused. 'Okay with what?'

'With 'Mione.'

'Of course!' he was grinning now, thumping Harry on the back for the second time. 'I gave up on Hermione a year ago! Actually, mate, I feel sorry for you, you're gonna get whipped if the two of you get together.'

'How long?' Apparently, Harry was unable to string more than two words together, but Ron understood.

'India.'

That one word was enough to confirm Harry's worst fears. 'She knows?'

'No.' Harry let out the breath he was holding. 'But,' continued Ron, 'She knows something's wrong, but she thinks its that bloody wanker's fault.'

'Thank Merlin.'

'Oh, and Harry?' Harry looked up.

'You're really being articulate, y'know? Hermione would be impressed.' he said cheekily.

Harry silenced him with a pillow to the face.

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The older Harry was sitting on the battlements, lost in thought again. The understanding between Ron and him had been imminent. There were things best friends would understand without really saying the words. It was a bond he thought would last forever. But that very evening, that bond had been broken. He tried to suppress his emotions, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. His eyes started to glisten, but they were still empty pools of green. No longer holding the sparkle that had once been there.

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A/N: I've been reading this awesome story on porkey but its sooooo fluffy that I've been contaminated by it. So, just to add some emotional effect next chapter, I've fluffed this one up. (evil grin accompanied by maniacal laughter)


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